Heavy Promotion

Farrah Fawcett-Majors, move over ... way over. Trim may be in almost everywhere, but when Chicago's big Carson, Pirie, Scott department stores staged a fashion show for what the industry delicately refers to as "half-size" women last week, there was ample evidence the company was on to something big. Five sturdy models--two professionals, three recruits--displayed summer wear in sizes from 16 1/2 to 18 1/2 (available sizes go up to 24 1/2). Said Carson's fashion director Ardelle Tuma: "These women have been ignored as customers who want to buy fashionable clothes. There are more than 22 million women over size 16 in America and that's a very good market." After the show, sales of large-size dresses soared 22%, sportswear 40%.

Possibly to ensure repeat sales, the store provided free sundaes for those 350 ladies who turned up. In a half-hour, they consumed 16 gallons of ice cream, four gallons of chocolate, butterscotch, strawberry and pineapple toppings, plus quantities of chopped nuts and whipped cream. Er, Farrah, maybe you had better move over a little bit more.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.